Regional Pies - Week #19 & #20

A quick post on the two regional pies of the past two weeks.

The Shoofly pie has Pennsylvania Dutch origins and was very interesting.  It is a lot like a molasses cookie or cake even inside of a pastry crust.  The flavor comes nearly entirely from the molasses, which is fine by me, but could certainly be a turn off.  The other really interesting thing about it is that it is a wet-bottom pie.  Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of that aspect,  but the bottom crust and the filling really meld together into a gooey, sticky sludge.  It is definitely different from the norm, and I would make it again.

I think the execution of the Shoofly pie was pretty good.  The only real mistake was that I tried to make the crust with as little water as possible.  I used vodka, as usual, but less than normal.  It produced a very flaky crust, but it had no structure or strength whatsoever, so as soon as I tried to get it out of the pie plate, it fell apart.  Ah well, another lesson.  At least it tasted good.

Here is the pie, before baking.  The filling is really, really thin, which I think leads to it really soaking into the bottom crust and producing the wet-bottom.

And, a slice.  Note the broken crust.  You can see the consistency of the filling to a certain extent.  It really is cake-like.  Unfortunately, you can't really see or appreciate the bottom layer.  Anyone who is really interested will have to make their own, I guess.

Chess or Crack pie was the second week's regional pie.  This is a Southern pie that has piles of variations, based on this same basic recipe with eggs, cream, corn meal and loads of sugar.  I think I got more comments in person and through email about "crack" pie.  If this blog wasn't so effective at exposing my immaturity, I could probably launch into some diatribe, but it is... and I am, so I found it all pretty humorous.

Here is a shot of the pie, pre-baked.

And, after baking.  The picture does not do it justice, but there was a pretty significant crack right down the middle.  The first few minutes of high heat create a nice thin layer of hardened sugar (caramelized?) and that cracks over time.  It lived up to the name.

My recommendation, if I get to give one...  Of course I get to give one!  It is my blog, so I can give any unsolicited, incorrect advice that I want.  So, the advice is to make sure to wait for this pie to completely cool.  It wasn't totally set up when I cut the piece below, and the next day the texture was much better.

As far as flavor, the Chess pie is flavored like... sugar.  That is all that is in there, so there isn't much choice.  I intend to make at least one more variation at some point in the next thirty-two weeks.  Time will tell which one.

Have a great week.  Dream of dirt pie.  Seriously, J.S., if you're reading this, who above the age of eight requests a dirt pie?  We'll call it a guilty pleasure.